The 12 November 1999 Mw 7.1 earthquake ruptured the Düzce segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone and produced a ∼40‐km‐long surface rupture. To improve knowledge about earthquake recurrence on this fault, we undertook paleoseismological trench investigations. We found evidence for repeated surface faulting paleoearthquakes predating the 1999 event during the past millennium. Dating was based on radiocarbon, 210Pb analyses, and archaeological considerations. In addition to the 1999 earthquake, prior surface faulting earthquakes are dated as follows: A.D. 1685–1900 (possibly end of 19th century), A.D. 1495–1700, and A.D. 685–1020 (possibly A.D. 890–1020). The A.D. 967 and A.D. 1878 historical earthquakes are good candidates to have ruptured the Düzce fault correlating with the oldest and penultimate paleoearthquakes. No obvious correlation for the third paleoearthquake (A.D. 1495–1700) exists. These results shows that the Düzce fault considerably participates, along with the parallel Mudurnu fault sections, in the seismogenic deformation taking place along this part of the North Anatolian Fault. Four events since A.D. 685–1020 (possibly A.D. 890–1020) would yield an average recurrence time for the Düzce fault of 330–430 years (possibly 330–370 years). The three most recent earthquakes, including 1999, occurred within 500 years. Merging results from other paleoseismological studies along the Düzce fault show a consistency of results and yields average recurrence times for the past 2000 years of 320–390 years. Assuming that the 1999 slip (2.7 m average, 5 m maximum) is representative of the behavior of this fault, the above recurrence times yield a reference figure of fault slip rate in the range 6.9–15.6 mm/a.

[1] This paper presents a comparison between the pattern of surface ruptures produced by a single earthquake and patterns of cumulative deformation. We performed a detailed study of the 1999 earthquake coseismic ruptures and of the long-term tectonic landforms in a key area of the Düzce fault segment of the North Anatolian fault. We observed a scaleindependent en echelon arrangement of the coseismic surface ruptures. As a whole, the long-term geomorphic expression of the Düzce Fault near the 1999 ruptures is evidence of the principal slip zone at depth that accommodates the bulk of the displacement during an individual rupture event. This may stay localized through many rupture episodes with persistent geometry and kinematics. The long-term tectonic and geomorphic expression of the fault in a broader area around the 1999 ruptures defines a wider deformation zone. In fact, an old and complex fault arrangement has been mapped, partially coinciding with the 1999 rupturing fault, suggesting that the 1999 ruptures are an incomplete expression of the long-term Düzce fault system. The relationships between the coseismic and the old fault systems suggest an evolution of the fault pattern trough time, with a tendency to simplify a geometric complexity into a straighter, mature trace. The integrated investigation of long-term tectonic morphologies and structural pattern offers a noteworthy frame to interpret the coseismic rupture kinematics and clarifies their complexities. Moreover, to fully understand the principal slip zone at depth, this work shows the importance of the study of strain distribution pattern and evolution of surface rupturing faults.

The Sakarya River is among the largest fluvial systems of the southern Black Sea basin, draining most of NW Anatolia. The river crosses the high relief of the Pontide mountain range through successive narrow gorges and strike-slip basins formed by the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) System. We have investigated this fluvial record along the course of the main river channel at its lower reaches. The study site is located south of the Adapazarı Basin, ~50 km inland from the Black Sea, where remnant floodplains are preserved as a three-step terrace staircase resulting from continuous uplift to the south of the NAF. The combination of high resolution mapping with a detailed luminescence (OSL and p-IR-IRSL) and radiocarbon geochronology has shed light on changes in the level of the Black Sea and in the hydrological system during the late Pleistocene to recent. The last glacial period is represented by the highest terrace (T3) indicating deposition during marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 in between two low stands of the Black Sea. Following a long-term erosional period initiated prior to last glacial maximum (LGM), the initiation of the deposition (T2) was synchronous with the proposed catastrophic sea level rise of the Black Sea (cal. C14 9.3 ka BP) which continued throughout the Holocene until the Roman warm period (1.8 ka BP). The late-Holocene to recent morphological evolution of the region is marked with two sequential erosional and depositional (T1 and T0) periods, which can be correlated with the well-documented historical climate shifts affecting the hydrological system. These results reveal that the erosional and depositional periods on the Sakarya River floodplain are controlled by major sea level changes and climatically induced fluctuations in discharge and sediment supply.

This paper is dedicated to the memory of the late Mehmet Ozan Sungurlu (1939-1990) for his immense contributions to our understanding of the geology of Turkey.

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The identification of past connection routes between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, other than the traditional one through to the Bosphorus Strait, would be of considerable interest to the international scientific community.

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